Shared content item commenting

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments provide a commenting system for multiple users to provide and share comments to shared documents. For example, users can share a web link to a collection of content items, such as documents, spreadsheets, photos, and any other media, with other users stored in an online content management system. The commenting system can provide a comment interface displayable alongside a respective content item and the comments can be saved for each user and the content item with associated comments can be synced across the multiple users. The comments can scroll independently of the content in a content item or the comments can be linked to a location therein and the scrolling of the comments can be linked to the scrolling of the content item such that corresponding comments are displayed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present technology pertains to editing shared files, and morespecifically pertains to enabling users viewing and/or editing sharedfiles to provide shared comments for other user to view.

BACKGROUND

Various applications allow users to view and/or edit the same file orcontent. In order to add comments or view changes to a document,however, users have been limited to embedding comments in the text ofthe document or by using a commenting or versioning feature of thenative application used to create the file. Furthermore, if the useronly has read access to the document, the user will have to download acopy of the file, add their respective comments and send it back to theowner, or send the owner comments through some other mechanism, such asemail.

SUMMARY

Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forthin the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or can be learned by practice of the herein disclosedprinciples. The features and advantages of the disclosure can berealized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinationsparticularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and otherfeatures of the disclosure will become more fully apparent from thefollowing description and appended claims, or can be learned by thepractice of the principles set forth herein.

Disclosed are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readablestorage media for providing a document commenting interface enablingusers to add comments to content items. For example, a content item,such as a document or image, can be shared, viewed, and/or edited, bymultiple users, each of whom can provide comments to a commentinginterface to share their comments or thoughts with the other users.

A content management system, in accordance with various embodiments, canmake a content item available for retrieval by providing the contentitem for display on, for example, a first computing device of a userthrough a network. The content item can include a comment interfacedisplayable therewith, which can be viewable between the first computingdevice and at least one second computing device through an account withthe content management provider. Accordingly, the user can providecomments to the comment interface viewable on each of the firstcomputing device and the at least one second computing device. Further,the content item can be shared among other users having an account withthe online content management system and each user can provide commentsto the comment interface to share their thoughts and comments with otherusers viewing and/or editing the content item.

In one example, the comment interface can be provided through anapplication, plug-in, or other interface, associated with the contentmanagement system and, therefore, unassociated with the nativeapplication of the content item. The comments can also be displayed in avariety of ways, such as in a comment section alongside the content ofthe document. In some cases, the comments can scroll independently ofthe content in the document. Alternatively, the comments can be linkedto a location in a document and the scrolling of the comments can belinked to the scrolling of the document such that corresponding commentsare displayed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-recited and other advantages and features of the disclosurewill become apparent by reference to specific embodiments thereof whichare illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that thesedrawings depict only exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and are nottherefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the principlesherein are described and explained with additional specificity anddetail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary content item in accordance with at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary content item with a comment section inaccordance with at least one embodiment;

FIG. 3 shows another exemplary content item with a comment section inaccordance with at least one embodiment;

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary content item with a comment section inaccordance with at least one embodiment;

FIG. 5 shows an example process in accordance with at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary configuration of devices and a network inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 7A shows a conventional system bus computing system architecture;and

FIG. 7B shows a computer system having a chipset architecture.

DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the disclosure are discussed in detail below.While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understoodthat this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled inthe art will recognize that other components and configurations may beused without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

The disclosed technology addresses the need in the art for enablingusers to provide information, such as comments, metadata, or the like,to content items viewable by multiples users across multiple computingdevice, platform, and file types. In particular, users can providecomments to a comment section associated with a content item, such as adocument or image, which is available for viewing and/or editing throughan online content management system. In one example, the comment sectioncan be provided through an application, plug-in, or other interface,associated with the content management system and, in some instances,unassociated with the native application of the content item.

FIG. 1 shows example document 100 displayed on browser 102, inaccordance with at least one embodiment. In various embodiments,document 100 is one of many content items or files available forretrieval from an online content management system that can offerservices, such as cloud storage, file synchronization, and various othertypes of client software. For example, such a system may allow users tocreate a folder on each of their computing devices, such as theirsmartphone, tablet computer, desktop computer, laptop, and the like. Thefolder can be synchronized across all the devices so that the content ofthe folder, when changed or updated, appears the same when viewed acrossall devices, regardless of the device or platform type. Files placed insuch a folder can be accessible through a website or mobile applicationassociated with one or more of the devices and can also be shared withthe devices of other users.

In accordance with at least one embodiment, the online contentmanagement system can enable users to provide comments to content items.In one example a user can choose to provide comments to document 100 byselecting icon 104, which, in one example, will expand comment interfaceor section 106, as shown in FIG. 2. In this example, comment section 106includes text field 108 for a user to provide their comment, a shareicon 110 to share document 100 with other users, and settings icon 112for changing user and account preferences.

In at least one embodiment, a user can provide one or more comments totext field 108 after, for example, editing document 100 and sharing thedocument with other users. FIG. 3 shows an example of document 100 afterit has been shared with and viewed by other users. In this example,there are three users and each has provided comments to an initialquestion posed by a first user in comment 106 a. In this example, thefirst user has created document 100 to give to new hires, has shareddocument 100 with a second and third user, and has asked them for theirfeedback. Accordingly, the second user has provided their feedback incomment 106 b, and the third user has provided their feedback in comment106 c.

In one example, each user could have provided edits to document 100 andexplanations for their edits. In one example, each of the comments couldbe linked to a specific location in the document, such as to reword oradd content to a specific paragraph. Alternatively, the comments couldbe general and about the document as a whole, such as about thebackground color of document 100 in comment 106 b. Further, both linkedcomments and general comments could simultaneously be provided tocomment section 106. For example, comments to a specific location orsection could be linked to the specific location in document 100, suchthat when a user selects a respective comment, they are brought to thelocation in document 100 associated with the respective comment.Accordingly, the general comments, when selected, would not navigate theuser to a location since they are not associated with any particularlocation.

Accordingly, after each user has provided their comments, the fileassociated with document 100 is synced across each of the users and eachof the user's computing devices in order for each user to have access toa most recent version of document 100, including the most recentcomments from all shared users. The synchronization can be performed asa “push,” when a respective user saves or closes document 100, therebypushing the most recent version to each device associated with the usersor as a “pull,” when a respective user requests access to document 100in order to ensure that changes to document 100 and/or comment section106 are reflected across all associated computing devices.

Further, local peer-to-peer synchronization could also be utilizedwithin the scope of various embodiments discussed herein. For example,devices associated with the same user or having access to the sameshared folder can determine whether they are on the same local areanetwork, and if so establish a secure connection (e.g., via SSL) andeffect synchronization through peer-to-peer transfer of files. Thesynchronized files may, typically, only be provided to computing devicesassociated with a user who provided the files. For example, if aparticular user registers his tablet computer, laptop, and smartphonewith the content management system, then those three devices willsynchronize the files with those devices and otherwise make the fileavailable to the user via the user's login (e.g., via a web-based orapp-based interface). Accordingly, the content management system willnot by default make the files available to devices of other users or vialogins other than that of the user who provided the files.

As discussed elsewhere herein, the comment section 106 can be providedacross devices, platforms, and file types. For example, the contentmanagement system can provide storage, retrieval, editing, andcommenting service for content items such as word processing documents,spreadsheets, presentations, videos, streaming content, images, and anyother content or file type. Accordingly, FIG. 4 shows image 200displayed on browser 202, in accordance with at least one embodiment. Inthis example, image 200 could be part of a photo album shared among auser's friends and family, therefore, the user's friends and familycould provide comments by typing a message in the text field 208 ofcomment section 206 to be shared among the shared users, as describedabove with respect to FIGS. 1-3. Additionally, the user could upload theimage 200 for private storage and safekeeping with the online contentmanagement system and provide comments to comment section 206 to jotdown notes about particular memories, places, and the like, associatedwith image 200 or to a particular album in general.

In at least one embodiment, the comment section, in accordance withvarious embodiments can be provided, by the content management provider,on an interface different from a native application associated with arespective content item. For example, the comment section could be anapplication layer independent from, or layered on top of, the nativeapplication of a respective file type being displayed. In one example,the layer could be associated with an application provided by the onlinecontent management system or by a browser plug-in when viewed through aweb browser. In one example, this could be achieved by adding metadatato each content item that is readable by the application provided by theonline content management system or the metadata could point to alocation with comment data that is retrievable by the online contentmanagement system. Alternatively, the comments may also be displayedthough the native application associated with the content item.

Further, the comments can be of different types. For example, a firsttype can be automatically created by the online content managementsystem based on versioning information. In this example, the onlinecontent management system could maintain version information, whichcould be incorporated into the metadata and then displayed to any viewerof the file. For example, in file “commenting screenshot 1” of thecomments could indicate that this respective version of the document isv4 along with information such as who and when it was created.

Accordingly, a second type of comment can be created by a user. Forexample, a user could pick a location in a file, such as a document,image, or presentation, for a comment and then add text to thatparticular location. For example, in file “commenting screenshot 1” asingle comment could be attached to a respective slide (of the document,image, or presentation) at a point labeled A, along with thecorresponding comment displayed in the comments section. A comment canalso identify a particular user that left the comment along with thedate and time the comment was provided.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example process 500 for enabling users to providecomments to shared documents through a content management system inaccordance with various embodiments. It should be understood that, forany process discussed herein, there can be additional, fewer, oralternative steps performed in similar or alternative orders, or inparallel, within the scope of the various embodiments unless otherwisestated.

In this example, a file uploaded to a first account of an online contentmanagement provider is received 502 from a first user and the file,along with a comment section associated with the file, is displayed 504on an interface of a first computing device of the first user.Accordingly, a first comment, from the first user, is received 506 tothe comment section. Subsequently, a first request to share the filewith a second user having a second account with the online contentmanagement provider is received 508 from the first user and a firstinvitation for the second user to access the file is transmitted 510.The first invitation is accepted and the file, the comment sectionassociated with the file, and the first comment from the first user aredisplayed 512 on a second computing device of the second user.

In this example, a second comment is received 514 to the comment sectionfrom the second user and a second request to share the file with thefirst user and a third user that has a third account with the onlinecontent management provider is received 516 from the second user.Accordingly, a second invitation is transmitted 518 and the file, thecomment section, and the first comment and the second comment aresubsequently displayed to the first and third users. Further, inaddition to comments to the comment section, additions or revisions, ifthe file is editable, can also be provided and shared amongst the users.

An exemplary system configuration 600 for sharing documents andproviding synchronized comments among users for the shared documents isshown in FIG. 6, wherein computing devices communicate via a network forpurposes of exchanging content and other data. The system can beconfigured for use on a wide area network such as that illustrated inFIG. 6. However, the present principles are applicable to a wide varietyof network configurations that facilitate the intercommunication ofelectronic devices. For example, each of the components of system 600 inFIG. 6 can be implemented in a localized or distributed fashion in anetwork.

In system 600, a user can interact with content management system 606through computing devices 602 ₁, 602 ₂, . . . , 602 _(n) (collectively“602”) connected to network 604 by direct and/or indirect communication.Content management system 606 can support connections from a variety ofdifferent computing devices, such as desktop computers; mobilecomputers; mobile communications devices, e.g. mobile phones, smartphones, tablets; smart televisions; set-top boxes; and/or any othernetwork enabled computing devices. Computing devices 602 can be ofvarying type, capabilities, operating systems, etc. Furthermore, contentmanagement system 606 can concurrently accept connections from andinteract with multiple computing devices 602.

A user can interact with content management system 606 via a client-sideapplication installed on computing device 602 _(i). In some embodiments,the client-side application can include a content management systemspecific component. For example, the component can be a stand-aloneapplication, one or more application plug-ins, and/or a browserextension. However, the user can also interact with content managementsystem 606 via a third-party application, such as a web browser, thatresides on computing device 602 _(i) and is configured to communicatewith content management system 606. In either case, the client-sideapplication can present a user interface (UI) for the user to interactwith content management system 606. For example, the user can interactwith the content management system 606 via a client-side applicationintegrated with the file system or via a webpage displayed using a webbrowser application.

Content management system 606 can make it possible for a user to storecontent, as well as perform a variety of content management tasks, suchas retrieve, modify, browse, and/or share the content. Furthermore,content management system 606 can make it possible for a user to accessthe content from multiple computing devices 602. For example, computingdevice 602 _(i) can upload content to content management system 606 vianetwork 604. The content can later be retrieved from content managementsystem 606 using the same computing device 602 _(i) or some othercomputing device 602 _(j).

To facilitate the various content management services, a user can createan account with content management system 606. The account informationcan be maintained in user account database 650. User account database650 can store profile information for registered users. In some cases,the only personal information in the user profile can be a usernameand/or email address. However, content management system 606 can also beconfigured to accept additional user information.

User account database 650 can also include account managementinformation, such as account type, e.g. free or paid; usage information,e.g. file edit history; maximum storage space authorized; storage spaceused; content storage locations; security settings; personalconfiguration settings; content sharing data; etc. Account managementmodule 624 can be configured to update and/or obtain user accountdetails in user account database 650. The account management module 624can be configured to interact with any number of other modules incontent management system 606.

An account can be used to store content, such as digital data,documents, text files, audio files, video files, etc., from one or morecomputing devices 602 authorized on the account. The content can alsoinclude folders of various types with different behaviors, or othermechanisms of grouping content items together. For example, an accountcan include a public folder that is accessible to any user. The publicfolder can be assigned a web-accessible address. A link to theweb-accessible address can be used to access the contents of the publicfolder. In another example, an account can include a photos folder thatis intended for photos and that provides specific attributes and actionstailored for photos; an audio folder that provides the ability to playback audio files and perform other audio related actions; or otherspecial purpose folders. An account can also include shared folders orgroup folders that are linked with and available to multiple useraccounts. The permissions for multiple users may be different for ashared folder.

The content can be stored in content storage 660. Content storage 660can be a storage device, multiple storage devices, or a server.Alternatively, content storage 660 can be a cloud storage provider ornetwork storage accessible via one or more communications networks.Content management system 606 can hide the complexity and details fromcomputing devices 602 so that computing devices 602 do not need to knowexactly where the content items are being stored by content managementsystem 606. In one variation, content management system 606 can storethe content items in the same folder hierarchy as they appear oncomputing device 602 _(i). However, content management system 606 canstore the content items in its own order, arrangement, or hierarchy.Content management system 606 can store the content items in a networkaccessible storage (SAN) device, in a redundant array of inexpensivedisks (RAID), etc. Content storage 660 can store content items using oneor more partition types, such as FAT, FAT32, NTFS, EXT2, EXT3, EXT4,ReiserFS, BTRFS, and so forth.

Content storage 660 can also store metadata describing content items,content item types, and the relationship of content items to variousaccounts, folders, or groups. The metadata for a content item can bestored as part of the content item or can be stored separately. In onevariation, each content item stored in content storage 660 can beassigned a system-wide unique identifier.

Content storage 660 can decrease the amount of storage space required byidentifying duplicate files or duplicate segments of files. Instead ofstoring multiple copies, content storage 660 can store a single copy andthen use a pointer or other mechanism to link the duplicates to thesingle copy. Similarly, content storage 660 can store files moreefficiently, as well as provide the ability to undo operations, by usinga file version control that tracks changes to files, different versionsof files (including diverging version trees), and a change history. Thechange history can include a set of changes that, when applied to theoriginal file version, produce the changed file version.

Content management system 606 can be configured to support automaticsynchronization of content from one or more computing devices 602. Thesynchronization can be platform agnostic. That is, the content can besynchronized across multiple computing devices 602 of varying type,capabilities, operating systems, etc. For example, computing device 602_(i) can include client software, which synchronizes, via asynchronization module 632 at content management system 606, content incomputing device 602 _(i)'s file system with the content in anassociated user account. In some cases, the client software cansynchronize any changes to content in a designated folder and itssub-folders, such as new, deleted, modified, copied, or moved files orfolders. The client software can be a separate software application, canintegrate with an existing content management application in theoperating system, or some combination thereof. In one example of clientsoftware that integrates with an existing content managementapplication, a user can manipulate content directly in a local folder,while a background process monitors the local folder for changes andsynchronizes those changes to content management system 606. Conversely,the background process can identify content that has been updated atcontent management system 606 and synchronize those changes to the localfolder. The client software can provide notifications of synchronizationoperations, and can provide indications of content statuses directlywithin the content management application. Sometimes computing device602 _(i) may not have a network connection available. In this scenario,the client software can monitor the linked folder for file changes andqueue those changes for later synchronization to content managementsystem 606 when a network connection is available. Similarly, a user canmanually stop or pause synchronization with content management system606.

A user can also view or manipulate content via a web interface generatedand served by user interface module 622. For example, the user cannavigate in a web browser to a web address provided by contentmanagement system 606. Changes or updates to content in the contentstorage 660 made through the web interface, such as uploading a newversion of a file, can be propagated back to other computing devices 602associated with the user's account. For example, multiple computingdevices 602, each with their own client software, can be associated witha single account and files in the account can be synchronized betweeneach of the multiple computing devices 602.

Content management system 606 can include a communications interface 620for interfacing with various computing devices 602, and can interactwith other content and/or service providers 609 ₁, 609 ₂, . . . , 609_(n) (collectively “609”) via an Application Programming Interface(API). Certain software applications can access content storage 660 viaan API on behalf of a user. For example, a software package, such as anapp on a smartphone or tablet computing device, can programmaticallymake calls directly to content management system 606, when a userprovides credentials, to read, write, create, delete, share, orotherwise manipulate content. Similarly, the API can allow users toaccess all or part of content storage 660 through a web site.

Content management system 606 can also include authenticator module 626,which can verify user credentials, security tokens, API calls, specificcomputing devices, and so forth, to ensure only authorized clients andusers can access files. Further, content management system 606 caninclude analytics module 634 module that can track and report onaggregate file operations, user actions, network usage, total storagespace used, as well as other technology, usage, or business metrics. Aprivacy and/or security policy can prevent unauthorized access to userdata stored with content management system 606.

Content management system 606 can include sharing module 630 formanaging sharing content publicly or privately. Sharing content publiclycan include making the content item accessible from any computing devicein network communication with content management system 606. Sharingcontent privately can include linking a content item in content storage660 with two or more user accounts so that each user account has accessto the content item. The sharing can be performed in a platform agnosticmanner. That is, the content can be shared across multiple computingdevices 602 of varying type, capabilities, operating systems, etc. Thecontent can also be shared across varying types of user accounts.

In some embodiments, content management system 606 can include a contentitem management module 628 for maintaining a content directory. Thecontent directory can identify the location of each content item incontent storage 660. The content directory can include a unique contententry for each content item stored in the content storage.

A content entry can include a content path that can be used to identifythe location of the content item in a content management system. Forexample, the content path can include the name of the content item and afolder hierarchy associated with the content item. For example, thecontent path can include a folder or path of folders in which thecontent item is placed as well as the name of the content item. Contentmanagement system 606 can use the content path to present the contentitems in the appropriate folder hierarchy.

A content entry can also include a content pointer that identifies thelocation of the content item in content storage 660. For example, thecontent pointer can include the exact storage address of the contentitem in memory. In some embodiments, the content pointer can point tomultiple locations, each of which contains a portion of the contentitem.

In addition to a content path and content pointer, a content entry canalso include a user account identifier that identifies the user accountthat has access to the content item. In some embodiments, multiple useraccount identifiers can be associated with a single content entryindicating that the content item has shared access by the multiple useraccounts.

To share a content item privately, sharing module 630 can be configuredto add a user account identifier to the content entry associated withthe content item, thus granting the added user account access to thecontent item. Sharing module 630 can also be configured to remove useraccount identifiers from a content entry to restrict a user account'saccess to the content item.

To share content publicly, sharing module 630 can be configured togenerate a custom network address, such as a uniform resource locator(URL), which allows any web browser to access the content in contentmanagement system 606 without any authentication. To accomplish this,sharing module 630 can be configured to include content identificationdata in the generated URL, which can later be used to properly identifyand return the requested content item. For example, sharing module 630can be configured to include the user account identifier and the contentpath in the generated URL. Upon selection of the URL, the contentidentification data included in the URL can be transmitted to contentmanagement system 606 which can use the received content identificationdata to identify the appropriate content entry and return the contentitem associated with the content entry.

In addition to generating the URL, sharing module 630 can also beconfigured to record that a URL to the content item has been created. Insome embodiments, the content entry associated with a content item caninclude a URL flag indicating whether a URL to the content item has beencreated. For example, the URL flag can be a Boolean value initially setto 0 or false to indicate that a URL to the content item has not beencreated. Sharing module 630 can be configured to change the value of theflag to 6 or true after generating a URL to the content item.

In some embodiments, sharing module 630 can also be configured todeactivate a generated URL. For example, each content entry can alsoinclude a URL active flag indicating whether the content should bereturned in response to a request from the generated URL. For example,sharing module 630 can be configured to only return a content itemrequested by a generated link if the URL active flag is set to 6 ortrue. Thus, access to a content item for which a URL has been generatedcan be easily restricted by changing the value of the URL active flag.This allows a user to restrict access to the shared content item withouthaving to move the content item or delete the generated URL. Likewise,sharing module 630 can reactivate the URL by again changing the value ofthe URL active flag to 6 or true. A user can thus easily restore accessto the content item without the need to generate a new URL.

While content management system 606 is presented with specificcomponents, it should be understood by one skilled in the art, that thearchitectural configuration of system 606 is simply one possibleconfiguration and that other configurations with more or less componentsare also possible.

FIG. 7A, and FIG. 7B show exemplary possible system embodiments. Themore appropriate embodiment will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art when practicing the present technology. Persons of ordinaryskill in the art will also readily appreciate that other systemembodiments are possible.

FIG. 7A shows a conventional system bus computing system architecture700 wherein the components of the system are in electrical communicationwith each other using a bus 705. Exemplary system 700 includes aprocessing unit (CPU or processor) 710 and a system bus 705 that couplesvarious system components including the system memory 715, such as readonly memory (ROM) 720 and random access memory (RAM) 725, to theprocessor 710. The system 700 can include a cache of high-speed memoryconnected directly with, in close proximity to, or integrated as part ofthe processor 710. The system 700 can copy data from the memory 715and/or the storage device 730 to the cache 712 for quick access by theprocessor 710. In this way, the cache can provide a performance boostthat avoids processor 710 delays while waiting for data. These and othermodules can control or be configured to control the processor 710 toperform various actions. Other system memory 715 may be available foruse as well. The memory 715 can include multiple different types ofmemory with different performance characteristics. The processor 710 caninclude any general purpose processor and a hardware module or softwaremodule, such as module 1 732, module 2 734, and module 3 736 stored instorage device 730, configured to control the processor 710 as well as aspecial-purpose processor where software instructions are incorporatedinto the actual processor design. The processor 710 may essentially be acompletely self-contained computing system, containing multiple cores orprocessors, a bus, memory controller, cache, etc. A multi-core processormay be symmetric or asymmetric.

To enable user interaction with the computing device 700, an inputdevice 745 can represent any number of input mechanisms, such as amicrophone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphicalinput, keyboard, mouse, motion input, speech and so forth. An outputdevice 735 can also be one or more of a number of output mechanismsknown to those of skill in the art. In some instances, multimodalsystems can enable a user to provide multiple types of input tocommunicate with the computing device 700. The communications interface740 can generally govern and manage the user input and system output.There is no restriction on operating on any particular hardwarearrangement and therefore the basic features here may easily besubstituted for improved hardware or firmware arrangements as they aredeveloped.

Storage device 730 is a non-volatile memory and can be a hard disk orother types of computer readable media which can store data that areaccessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memorycards, solid state memory devices, digital versatile disks, cartridges,random access memories (RAMs) 725, read only memory (ROM) 720, andhybrids thereof.

The storage device 730 can include software modules 732, 734, 736 forcontrolling the processor 710. Other hardware or software modules arecontemplated. The storage device 730 can be connected to the system bus705. In one aspect, a hardware module that performs a particularfunction can include the software component stored in acomputer-readable medium in connection with the necessary hardwarecomponents, such as the processor 710, bus 705, display 735, and soforth, to carry out the function.

FIG. 7B shows a computer system 750 having a chipset architecture thatcan be used in executing the described method and generating anddisplaying a graphical user interface (GUI). Computer system 750 is anexample of computer hardware, software, and firmware that can be used toimplement the disclosed technology. System 750 can include a processor755, representative of any number of physically and/or logicallydistinct resources capable of executing software, firmware, and hardwareconfigured to perform identified computations. Processor 755 cancommunicate with a chipset 760 that can control input to and output fromprocessor 755. In this example, chipset 760 outputs information tooutput 765, such as a display, and can read and write information tostorage device 770, which can include magnetic media, and solid statemedia, for example. Chipset 760 can also read data from and write datato RAM 775. A bridge 780 for interfacing with a variety of userinterface components 785 can be provided for interfacing with chipset760. Such user interface components 785 can include a keyboard, amicrophone, touch detection and processing circuitry, a pointing device,such as a mouse, and so on. In general, inputs to system 750 can comefrom any of a variety of sources, machine generated and/or humangenerated.

Chipset 760 can also interface with one or more communication interfaces790 that can have different physical interfaces. Such communicationinterfaces can include interfaces for wired and wireless local areanetworks, for broadband wireless networks, as well as personal areanetworks. Some applications of the methods for generating, displaying,and using the GUI disclosed herein can include receiving ordereddatasets over the physical interface or be generated by the machineitself by processor 755 analyzing data stored in storage 770 or 775.Further, the machine can receive inputs from a user via user interfacecomponents 785 and execute appropriate functions, such as browsingfunctions by interpreting these inputs using processor 755.

It can be appreciated that exemplary systems 700 and 750 can have morethan one processor 710 or be part of a group or cluster of computingdevices networked together to provide greater processing capability.

For clarity of explanation, in some instances the present technology maybe presented as including individual functional blocks includingfunctional blocks comprising devices, device components, steps orroutines in a method embodied in software, or combinations of hardwareand software.

In some embodiments the computer-readable storage devices, mediums, andmemories can include a cable or wireless signal containing a bit streamand the like. However, when mentioned, non-transitory computer-readablestorage media expressly exclude media such as energy, carrier signals,electromagnetic waves, and signals per se.

Methods according to the above-described examples can be implementedusing computer-executable instructions that are stored or otherwiseavailable from computer readable media. Such instructions can comprise,for example, instructions and data which cause or otherwise configure ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purposeprocessing device to perform a certain function or group of functions.Portions of computer resources used can be accessible over a network.The computer executable instructions may be, for example, binaries,intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, orsource code. Examples of computer-readable media that may be used tostore instructions, information used, and/or information created duringmethods according to described examples include magnetic or opticaldisks, flash memory, USB devices provided with non-volatile memory,networked storage devices, and so on.

Devices implementing methods according to these disclosures can comprisehardware, firmware and/or software, and can take any of a variety ofform factors. Typical examples of such form factors include laptops,smart phones, small form factor personal computers, personal digitalassistants, and so on. Functionality described herein also can beembodied in peripherals or add-in cards. Such functionality can also beimplemented on a circuit board among different chips or differentprocesses executing in a single device, by way of further example.

The instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computingresources for executing them, and other structures for supporting suchcomputing resources are means for providing the functions described inthese disclosures.

Although a variety of examples and other information was used to explainaspects within the scope of the appended claims, no limitation of theclaims should be implied based on particular features or arrangements insuch examples, as one of ordinary skill would be able to use theseexamples to derive a wide variety of implementations. Further andalthough some subject matter may have been described in languagespecific to examples of structural features and/or method steps, it isto be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claimsis not necessarily limited to these described features or acts. Forexample, such functionality can be distributed differently or performedin components other than those identified herein. Rather, the describedfeatures and steps are disclosed as examples of components of systemsand methods within the scope of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, receiving a scrollable content item uploaded to a first account with an online content management provider; providing for display, on an interface of a first computing device, the scrollable content item and a comment section associated with the scrollable content item, wherein the scrollable content item is provided using a native application associated with the scrollable content item and wherein the online content management provider provides the comment section through an application associated with the online content management provider on the first computing device and the comment section associated with the scrollable content item is a layer on top of the native application associated with the scrollable content item; adding, in response to an acceptance of a first share invitation, a copy of the scrollable content item and access to the comment section to a second account; receiving a first modification to the scrollable content item that includes data associated with at least one first comment to the comment section; synchronizing the first modification to the scrollable content item with the copy of the scrollable content item in the second account, wherein the synchronization of the first modification provides the at least one first comment to the comment section to the second account; providing for display, on an interface of a second computing device, the scrollable content item, the comment section associated with the scrollable content item, and the at least one first comment, wherein the scrollable content item is displayed in the native application and the online content management provider provides the comment section and the at least one first comment through an application associated with the online content management provider on the second computing device; receiving at least one second modification to the scrollable content item, including data associated with a second comment to the comment section, from the application associated with the online content management provider on the second computing device; and receiving at least one of revisions or additions to the scrollable content item from the application associated with the online content management provider on the first computing device; and synchronizing the at least one second modification and the at least one of revisions or additions to the copy of the scrollable content item with the scrollable content item in the first account, wherein the synchronization of the at least one second modification provides the second comment to the comment section of the first account.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: synchronizing the scrollable content item for providing the scrollable content item for display with the second comment on the interface of the first computing device.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the comment section is at least one of scrollable independently of the scrollable content item or each comment is linkable to a location in the scrollable content item.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the scrollable content item is at least one of a word processing document, a spreadsheet, a presentation, a video, streaming content, or an image.
 5. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a computing device to: provide for display, on a first computing device and at least one second computing device, a scrollable content item and a comment section associated with the scrollable content item, the scrollable content item and the comment section being sharable between the first computing device and the at least one second computing device through a content management provider, and wherein on the first computing device the scrollable content item is provided using a native application associated with the scrollable content item and the content management provider provides the comment section and the comment section associated with the scrollable content item is a layer on top of the native application associated with the scrollable content item; and enable the first computing device and the at least one second computing device to provide comments to the comment section, the comments being viewable on each of the first computing device and the at least one second computing device; and receive comments and edits to the comment section from the at least one second computing device, wherein the comments and the edits are provided using a second native application associated with the scrollable content item on the at least one second computing device.
 6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the computing device to: receive at least one comment to the comment section from the first computing device; and before providing the scrollable content item for display on the at least one second computing device, synchronize the at least one comment from the first computing device.
 7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the comment section adds comments to the scrollable content item via metadata associated with the scrollable content item.
 8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the scrollable content item is at least one of a word processing document, a spreadsheet, a presentation, a video, streaming content, or an image.
 9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the display, provided by the content management provider, is displayable across a plurality of different computing device types and across a plurality of different platform types for a plurality of different content item types.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the comment section is independently scrollable from the scrollable content item.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein a comment in the comment section is linked to a location in the scrollable content item, and wherein scrolling of the scrollable content item causes a display of a corresponding comment.
 12. A computing system, comprising: at least one processor; and memory including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computing system to: provide for display, on a first computing device and at least one second computing device, a scrollable content item and a comment section associated with the display of the scrollable content item, the scrollable content item and the comment section being viewable between the first computing device and the at least one second computing device through an account with a content management provider and wherein on the first computing device the scrollable content item is displayed using a native application associated with the scrollable content item and the comment section is displayed using the content management provider and the comment section associated with the scrollable content item is a layer on top of the native application associated with the scrollable content item; and enable the first computing device and the at least one second computing device to provide comments to a comment interface viewable on each of the first computing device and the at least one second computing device, the comment interface being provided, by the content management provider; and receive comments and edits to the comment section from the at least one second computing device, wherein the comments and the edits are provided using a second native application associated with the scrollable content item on the at least one second computing device.
 13. The computing system of claim 12, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further enable the computing device to: receive at least one comment from the first computing device to the comment interface; and synchronize the at least one comment from the first computing device before providing the scrollable content item for display on the at least one second computing device.
 14. The computing system of claim 12, wherein the scrollable content item is at least one of a word processing document, a spreadsheet, a presentation, a video, streaming content, or an image.
 15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application associated with the online content management provider is independent from the native application of the scrollable content item. 